If fans come on to the pitch, we abandon the game.

That is the recommendation soccer referees? chief Richard Knight will make to fellow officials at their monthly meeting on Monday, after two incidents in two days at Somerset Cricket Club.

A drunk woman ran across the pitch at Somerset on Thursday night during a First Division game between Social Club and Ireland Rangers ? just 24 hours after a drunk fan threatened an official and punched a player in a Friendship Trophy quarter-final.

Although the second incident, for which referee Joe Pimentel had to hold up play, was far less serious than the previous night?s shenanigans ? which could lead to criminal charges ? the matter of security will be high on the agenda on Monday for the Bermuda Referees? Association.

?It is making a difficult job more difficult,? said Knight, who is also to meet with the Bermuda Football Association executive over the incident.

?No referee ever wants to abandon a game but I am going to recommend to members that we take a stand on this issue.

?There is a point where we have to say ?enough is enough?. And this isn?t just about us, this is also about player safety.

?When you have someone on the playing surface, you have an unknown factor there and that is a risk that we can no longer take ? this isn?t something football needs.?

Knight, in his 20th season as an official, believes the problem has only really arisen in the past five years but Wednesday?s incident, in which the ?fan? traded blows with a player and raised a fist to linesman Antoine Augustus, has forced the issue to a head.

?We will discuss it as an association and seek the views of members, but my recommendation is going to be that referees should abandon the games,? he continued.

?We don?t want to do it, but if the clubs know that is what is going to happen, maybe they will make more effort to keep spectators off the playing field.

?To be honest, I am getting sick of it and if this is the only way to deal with it, then this is how it is going to have to be.?

As well as threatening match officials and players, the incursion on to the field by a spectator creates a myriad of problems for those controlling the game.

Players who tackle the individuals are technically guilty of violent conduct, an offence that could earn them a red card ? something a referee would be reluctant to administer but is obliged to under the letter of the law.

?This is getting really bad now and I don?t think the BFA can do much more,? he added.

?The onus has to be on the clubs to keep people off the field. There have been numerous meetings about this in recent years and the clubs have been written to.

?It is now up to them to take responsibility.?

The startling ? and worrying ? problem with the incursion on Wednesday was the lack of any attempt by club officials to prevent the man from sauntering across the field. It was only after a fist-fight with a Trojans player that the man was removed, and even then it was the Boulevard bench that played the biggest role in saving the match from being abandoned.

Sports Minister Dale Butler was also worried by the incident, the latest to hit football ? and the Friendship Trophy ? after machete-wielding thugs caused havoc during last season?s final at Wellington Oval.

?This concerns me greatly,? said Butler, who was behind the Code of Ethics for Sport in Bermuda that was released last week.

?It seems that the good old days that we all remember with such fondness are well and truly gone. I thought football had turned the corner, but maybe it hasn?t.

?I am very concerned by it all. There needs to be a thorough investigation by the BFA and Somerset Cricket Club and then they need to take a look at the possible punishments ? and the law itself is available.

?I don?t want to see this thing treated with a lollipop ? there have to me strong measures taken so that the message goes out that this behaviour will not be tolerated.?

Butler added that Director of Youth and Sport Brenton Roberts and chairman of the National Sports Centre trustees Dr. Gerard Bean had recently attended a conference on sports ground security in England.